Night in the woods: Beasts in the Black (Unofficial Sequel to NitW)
by SpookyPerson98
Summary: In the months just after the games events, Possum Springs began to grow, and the future looked brighter than any time in the towns history, though everything comes with a price. Follow Mae as she uncovers mysteries about the town, missing stars, herself, and the uncaring universe in possibly the worst spring of her life, though as the saying goes: it's always darkest before dawn.


_"_ _The strong prey on the weak, and the stronger prey on the strong. With life so sparse in the cosmos, doesn't it seem reasonable that Gods would flock to our little world in search of a meal?"_ \- Beasts in the Black, page 6, Dr. Lorance Geiver.

Mae was walking. Everything was dark. Pavement underfoot. She was on the sidewalk! She looked up, and saw the moon was hanging in the sky above, power-lines cut through it… she wanted to walk on them.

Her arms hung out from her sides, to help with balance. There was the howling of wind in her ears, but she couldn't feel it on her fur. She looked down at the ground that was now far below her, then up to the sky. Something swam through the sky, it felt more like a pond to her.

Then it occurred to her, she wasn't alone! Mae heard the sound of a skateboard roaring over the sidewalk, and it made her look back down. Shadows walked through the streets; they were wandering, or exploring, like her!

Mae was happy, but then the power-lines ended, and she had no choice but to jump down. She fell, and fell and fell and fell, she feared for a second that she wouldn't ever stop! Then her face met the ground.

Something was wrong. She was drawn to the center of town, and saw that it was getting swallowed! It looked like a massive sinkhole just ate all of Town Centre! The road was cracked and had collapsed, before it dropped off like a cliff into a bottomless pit; it changed from a pleasant blue to a terrifying black down there.

Someone was next to her.

Mae looked up, and saw a person. A raccoon, some middle aged guy, his fur a bright blue, like everything else, his pupils white. They made eye-contact. Mae felt weird.

He said something.

"Wae wiktis."

Was he trying to tell her something? Did he have some weird lisp?

Before she could question him, he held his arms out, and fell forward into the sinkhole! She tried to reach out and stop him, save him!

'You don't want to go down there! You never hit the ground!' Mae thought, and saw his figure disappear into the ethereal blackness.

Then the earth beneath her gave away, it broke, and she started falling too! She was falling face first, a trend, she noticed.

Then she saw slit eyes, down there in the black, stare up at her. They were bright, so bright it hurt. They grew, and she saw a mouth start to open up down there. She was falling down and everything started to shake, tremble as she got closer to whatever it was. Her head was on fire, it was incinerated! Everything turned to dust, then to particles, then to nothing.

 **Part I: Hanging in there**

"Mae! Honey!" Mae's mom's voice called up from downstairs.

Slowly, Mae Borowski's eyes opened, and she started to come back. Grey light filled the room from her bedroom window, and there was a slight chill that her blankets barely protected her from She groaned and stretched out under her blankets. Her alarm clock was on the wooden floor of the attic next to her bed, vibrating louder than the trashy pop-song it was playing.

"What's the point of an alarm clock if it won't wake you up, dear? It's your big day! Come down and eat!" her mom's voice called again, she was at the very bottom of the house. Mae was impressed she could carry her voice that far.

Even though Mae went to sleep early - an enormous feat that's brag worthy - she still felt like she only got four hours. Time slipped, and before she knew it she was almost tripping down the last few steps to the ground floor. Her nose wrinkled, and she sniffed up at the air. Pancakes.

"Yes! Pancakes! Yes yes yes!" Mae cheered and hurried to the kitchen. Her mom and dad were both in there; mom was getting a plate ready for Mae, her dad was sitting and feasting.

"I'll get you some glue, kitten, I had to glue your mom's alarm-clock to the bedside table too. You're both swipers." Mae's dad said after he swallowed a mouth full, and stuffed some more in there, he was in a rush for work, already in his work-clothes.

"What time is it at again?" Mae's mom asked her while she brought over a plate of pancakes and set it down at the kitchen table. She pushed forward the bottle of syrup.

It took a lot to get Mae to sit in a chair, thankfully pancakes fit the bill. She climbed up in the chair and began to coat the pancakes in the glossy brown gift of the Gods, "It's at like, four." Mae responded casually, her focus wasn't on the conversation.

"Good, that's still plenty of time to eat, shower, get dressed, and get there." her mom said anxiously, and looked over to the clock.

"What's your greatest strength?" her dad asked with a mouth full of panned-cake.

"Creativity." Mae responded with the reherced line, "I'm super good at looking at problems and solving them from a unique perspective"

"Very." her mom corrected her and pinched Mae's cheek, "You have to take it seriously, make them go: 'Man, that Borowski kid, she sure is something! Smart, well spoken, and professional! We better snatch her up before someone else gets to!' "

That wasn't the first time her mom said that, and every time she heard it, Mae's ears flattened. She jammed some food in her mouth and chewed; if her mom was good at anything, it was setting really high standards for her underachieving hot mess of a daughter.

"Be yourself, Mae, but in a really expensive, fancy suit." her father chimed in, "That's how being professional works. You're you, but better, not like how you get to be you around friends in a t-shirt and sweatpants."

Mae nodded in response, even with a chest made of solid anxiety, her dad was able to chip away at just the right spot to let it all fall through every time.

Her mom looked at the clock again, then picked up her book, "If you didn't wake up half an hour late I would have given you plenty of encouraging words too." she said, and walked over. She gave Mae a big kiss between her ears and rubbed the back of her head, "I love you, and I know you'll do great, okay?"

"Okaaaaay, love you too mom. Have fun at church!" Mae called up at her mom, unable to hold back her smile at the motherly kisses. She waved and watched her leave; Sundays were busy for her mom, naturally, and she always had to go in early.

It was a painfully big day; Mae took some special herbal pills her mom sometimes took to deal with the overwhelming anxiety, and it knocked her out like she got hit by a train carrying solid bricks of cement. Maybe that explained the dream… she didn't feel awake in her sleep like that for months, not since back in October. It worried her, but honestly it was just one more strand of fur on the hell-beast that was today.

Eat. Shower. Dress.

It was rare that Mae would actually step into a shower to wash all the dirt off her, but it was so important that today went well that she even groomed her fur, sprayed on a little of her mom's perfume, and nearly threw up in the bathroom from pure adrenaline alone!

This job was nice, important, too. Mae's dad and the rest of his pals at the Ham Panther had all planned to go on strike after the holidays were over, and it was January. That meant Mae needed a job, the house needed income. She had to grow up, a little at least.

Thankfully the town had started to boom over the last few months; after the owners of several homes and businesses all went… missing… people moved in and brought opportunity, jobs. Things were looking up, way up actually, and now was the perfect time to land her first job in years.

Mae got a buttoned up shirt, that was pretty much the extent of her 'fancy, expensive suit', it was a nice pretty pink plaid, she thought it looked nice on her, humble, understated; it reached the 'I totally don't have a sketchy past' vibes she was looking for.

She looked at herself in the mirror, and that was it, she didn't linger, because, as the ever insightful Bea once told her: 'Self image is bullshit. It's how you feel that's important, not how you look. That's why I haven't had a single date in the past three years.'

"Humpf!" Mae grunted before she plopped down on her bed. She grabbed her laptop from underneath, dragged it up, and opened it. She didn't have a message from Gregg or Angus, but one from Bea; Mae felt she was a bad influence on Gregg, and shortly after the whole… cult debacle, Angus outright told her that space would be good for the both of them to grow as adults, and he was right.

"Hey, I don't know if you'll be up for it, but if you want to celebrate or rant on how your interview goes today, I'll have an out of store job tonight, and I could always use the company." Bea had messaged Mae a bit after she went to bed. There was a computer at the Pickaxe, so hopefully Bea would be able to see her response.

"Heeeeeeell yeah girl, I'll head over right after I intimidate the dude interviewing me into giving me a job." she responded, then looked down at Casey's icon at the bottom.

Oh Casey… he'd be proud of her, today. Mae wondered what kind of job he'd have, if he was still around… not that she'd ever know, those assholes deprived him of any chance he had in life. A little angry, spiteful part inside her wished they suffered before they died, every last one of them. Dehydration, Angus said would be the cause, Mae hoped they drank each others pee until they all died from pee-poisoning. Casey would like that.

Mae's ears flattened, and she frowned before she looked out the window. Now her mood was ruined. Good! It made her serious, broody, like a good miserable adult. She grabbed her heavy jacket and looked in the mirror as she zipped it up.

"You're an adult, Mae. A real instrument to bureaucracy. A model citizen." she said to herself out loud, then walked downstairs before she could refute every one of those points to herself.

Business. Work. Adulthood.

Mae had no time for games, not that anyone was really out and about in this chilly January weather. Anyone who saw her would know to get out of her way, she walked fast, her hands in her pockets, and a face of determination and fury on to mask the bladder-emptying terror she had on the inside.

Book Badger was the place she was being interviewed at, and the first place to accept her application, which had to be a good sign! Up ahead, she could see the building, it was one of the originals in Possum Springs, it went into a bit of a tailspin when BookRook opened at the mall, but the Badger was a tough creature, and endured longer than the Rook, not to mention recently business had improved.

It was a big one-story building, and it wasn't really that long of a walk to get there. Once all the ugly Cult stuff was dealt with, Mae started reading a lot, mostly stories from her Granddad's collection, but around the holidays, when she had money to spend, she decided to give the Book Badger a shot, and since then she's become a regular, it was a cozy place to read, and the staff didn't mind, they said it 'aided the ambiance'. It was only because the manager saw she was genuinely interested in books that she was even being given a chance. The manager probably figured that an interested worker would be a good worker.

Aaaand if she failed horribly, she'd never be able to show her face in one of her favorite places ever again. It was probably too late for Mae to realize that was a possibility, as she opened the door and stuck her foot in.

Warmth hit her, and that dull smell of paper. She put on an anxious grin and took off her jacket. She tucked it under her arm.

'Great, now I have to deal with this huge thing. I should have left it at home.' Mae thought to herself, 'But then I'd walk all the way here without a jacket, and they would go 'Hey, what's wrong? Why didn't you wear a jacket over here?' ' It was truly a lose-lose scenario.

Her arms started to shake, and she pulled down at the bottom of her button-up shirt. She walked over to the checkout, and waved at the cashier, a nice owl guy named Carl.

He looked up from his phone that he was glancing down at, and perked up at the sight of a person. He recognized her, "Oh, hey Mae."

"Caaaaaarrrrrrl." Mae called out as she walked over, and leaned forward on the counter, "I have an interview here today, Caaaaaaaarl. I wish to join your ranks. To fight the good fight! And put an end to all digital forms of entertainment once and for all! Down with the machine! The paper uprising will bring us glory!"

"And earn you minimum wage." he said apathetically and picked up a walkie-talkie from next to his register.

Mae's eyes bugged out and she stared at the walkie, "Oh that's coooool. Do all you guys get one?" she asked, but wasn't answered.

"Mae Borowski's here for that interview." Carl spoke into the walkie with the same flat tone.

"Thank you!" a female voice called out from the walkie, and that was that. Carl set it down and looked down to Mae.

"Well that's that. You can sit in one of the chairs, miss Campbell will be with you shortly. Good luck."

Mae had never gotten a more uncaring vote of confidence, and yet, it really did help. She gave Carl a big grin and a thumbs up, before she turned and walked over to one of the best additions to the building: the chairs.

A long, happy groan came out of Mae while she sunk into one of the big cozy red chairs. For a moment, she felt her chest go light, but it was the eye of the storm, because once she heard footsteps approaching, every muscle in her body tensed, and she felt like she couldn't breath.

"Miss Borowski?" a voice called out from behind her.

"Yes'm! That's me!" Mae jumped up from her seat and turned around.

The manager, miss Campbell, was standing there looking down at Mae; she was a nice old mouse, withered; running a business in a dying town has visibly taken a toll on her, but she looked like she had spirit! And the town isn't dead yet!

"Hi there, Sophie Campbell." she said and held her hand out, which Mae shook a little too hard in an attempt to hide her trembling.

"Alright, let's get started!" miss Campbell exclaimed and turned. She lead Mae through the bookstore and back to her office. Inside, she walked around and sat behind her desk, which was covered in paperwork and books. She had a pretty glass ball paperweight with snowflakes on it, which Mae focused on as she sat down opposite her.

"Oh, you can set your coat down next to you dear." miss Campbell said, and gestured to the seat next to Mae.

Mae had completely forgotten about the coat! She quickly set it down next to her, and gave her possible future boss a big smile, though she must have been visibly stressed, because miss Campbell smiled too, and even laughed a little.

"Alright." miss Campbell said as she looked down and started to flip through Mae's application, "Mae. You haven't had a job in a while?"

"Uh, College…" Mae responded, and cleared her throat; she sounded like she was being interrogated by police after witnessing a murder! She told herself to grow a spine and she sat up, "College, for the past two years, and I was focusing on... high school before it. I had some like, issues in high school, but really who didn't. I needed to try twice as hard to pass with grades above a D." she was getting dangerously close to saying 'Yeah I beat a kid I didn't know an inch from death with a bat for no actual reason Junior year' which - even Mae could tell - wouldn't go too well.

"I … got a job earlier, bagging groceries, but again I chose to focus on school, so I didn't really stay there long." she lied, because so far telling the truth was like walking over an on-fire rope.

'After a constant string of eff-ups I got fired because I became a danger to the store and customers' she thought, though of course as a sane person, she'd never say that.

"College? What'd you major in? If you don't mind my asking."

"Math." Mae lied, again, and it was probably an obvious lie, she just wanted to get the point across that she would be trustworthy behind a register, at the very least, which she wasn't.

"I-I mean… I planned on focusing on… math… classes, but things happened and I wound up leaving. You know… money… " Mae didn't know money, her parents did, she had none of her own, but that was probably one of the better starting lies.

Miss Campbell seemed to buy it, too. She nodded sympathetically, "So tell me a little about yourself."

Mae froze, and her mind went blank, "Uhhhh…." she tried to think of a good lie, something, anything that wasn't the truth.

"My Granddaddy left me an apple when he died." she said in an uneven, uncertain voice, too focused the fact that she said grand-DADDY - where the hell did she come up with that? She probably meant to sound innocent and sincere, but veered too far and wound up sounding weird and childish - "He uh. He left me an apple crate of books, my Granddad, when he passed." she rephrased herself, after she cleared her throat, "And I liked them." she finished, and that was actually all.

The biography, the enigma of Mae Borowski, twenty years in the making, explained in one, poorly said sentence. She congratulated herself.

Miss Campbell rose a confused eyebrow, confused to see if that was all.

"And uh." Mae tried to segway, she knew she had to continue, "I don't think that there would be a better place to work. I love Possum Springs, I missed it more than anything when I was at college. I feel like I belong here, and - and better, I feel like I belong HERE." Mae pointed down, which was a gesture to Book Badger; she touched a vein, a genuine one, and began to milk it, because she wasn't sounding like a crazy person trying to outsmart a doctor at some Asylum.

"Books are awesome." she started another thought, but she had no idea where she was going, "They make me happy, I especially love the horror ones, that was my Granddad's favorite kind too. I'd apply to the library, but… this place is honestly way cooler, and I can't stand the library." she knew giving a complement to the business would earn her some points.

"Your grandfather, I knew him." miss Campbell said flatly, and nodded slowly.

Mae's eyes widened, that was one hell of a bombshell she dropped!

"He came here often, he was nice. I see a lot of him in you. Zany." miss Campbell continued, and offered Mae with an encouraging, small smile, "I know about you, dear. Your… episode in high school, it made the paper. I believe in rebirth, change, and I would possibly give you a chance working here if we needed an extra hand, but…" she sighed, "Your grandfather was a good man, he had a good heart. Out of respect to him, I won't make you wait, I'll tell you outright…"

Mae's ears flattened a little, her heart froze. She knew what was coming.

""I'll hire you. At-will for the first ninety days, to see how you do. But I'll have you know, if I catch one whiff of mischief or a mental episode in this building from you." miss Campbell made a cutting motion over her throat.

"Are we clear?" she asked, suddenly stern and serious.

"Yes! Yes! Oh my god yes! That's so reasonable and -" Mae stood up and held her arms up in the air, she was fighting the urge to scream with joy, "I won't let you down! Really! I'll be nice to the customers and work extra hard and and -"

Miss Campbell laughed a little and stood up herself, "Don't worry dear, I believe you. A happy worker is a good worker. I'll send you information and paperwork to fill out online, unless you'd prefer paper."

"Digital is fine! I have a laptop!"

"Good, good. Less hassle for me." miss Campbell held out a hand, and Mae shook it jovially.

"Wh-When do I start?!" Mae exclaimed, she was shaking all over, but it was for different reasons.

"Well, looking at your application, it says your availability is very open. So how about next Friday? I like starting employees on busy days. Trial by fire, I call it."

"Well I'll kick fire's ass!" Mae exclaimed, cursing out of habit, but her ears folded and she looked like she just said the c-word in fourth grade all over again, "I uh. I'll kick it's butt. Sorry…"

"It's fine, just be sure to keep your language in check while in uniform. Speaking of, here." miss Campbell turned and walked over to a box. She picked up two black shirts with a badgers face on the right side of her chest, "You're a small, I'm guessing?"

Mae nodded in response and held her arms out.

"Here you go." miss Campbell handed Mae the uniform and patted it, "You can get whatever pants you want, as long as they're professional, no bright colors, but be sure to keep the shirts clean and ready. Any questions?"

"Nope!" Mae bellowed out, too happy and shocked to even have come up with a question or concern.

Miss Campbell gave Mae a quizzical look, "Really? Nothing at all?"

"Nothing I can think up right now! I probably will later!" Mae responded quickly, and looked down at the badger logo on the shirt.

"Alright, well, I have your information, I'll email you." she said and looked to the door, but then swiftly back to Mae, "I'm taking a risk, employing you. Please don't let this act of belief bite me back." miss Campbell nearly pleaded with a small voice, it was a bit insulting, but it was… flattering, too; she really cared about Mae succeeding! She was giving her a chance! It was weird, like a mother figure, or a guardian.

"You won't regret it, I super - oop - very promise!" Mae switched the words around like her mom encouraged her to do, and it… didn't work out. Mae frowned, "I'll do everything you ask and I'll be a model employee."

Miss Campbell nodded, "Excellent, I'll see you Friday, dear." she gestured to the door.

"See you then!" Mae waved, grabbed her jacket, and hurried out.

Miss Campbell sat in her seat, and sighed into both her hands once she was alone. She didn't consider herself to be the greatest leader out there, but this business should have gone under four times by now; her gut feeling's kept everything running, and her gut told her that Mae would be a valuable asset, but it was a gamble… and she was awful at that.

Bea was at the counter. Her legs hurt, but that's not what was on her mind, it was payday, and once she finished her shift, she got to distribute everyone's paychecks, including her own, and as if Bea didn't think this day could get any better, Mae agreed to hanging out on another out-of-store job, so now Bea wouldn't have to freeze her ass alone, she'd practically have Mae there - by nature - running circles around her to generate heat.

The door jingled, and Bea set the paper down to look over at the door. There wasn't anyone… probably someone changed their mind. Bea looked back at the paperwork that was in her hands.

"BAH!" Mae cried out and jumped up from the other side of the counter.

Bea didn't scream, her eyes went wide, and she swung her arm. She reacted by giving Mae's face a slap!

"FUH-" Mae cried out and took a step back, she held her cheek dramatically, and was being a bit of a crybaby on purpose, though it did hurt.

"Mae! Holy crap." Bea breathed out and moved her hand to her chest, "You can't do that to me Mae, ever. You know I don't like getting scared like that." she groaned.

Mae rubbed her cheek, it felt fat, and thudded under her hand, "You hit me and somehow YOU'RE the victim?"

"You were being a spaz and made me hit you." Bea rolled her eyes. That was enough to shut Mae up, it seemed.

Bea was quiet for a second, before she suddenly remembered that Mae should have had the interview by now.

"So… did you get the job…?" Bea asked while she leaned over the counter and raised an eyebrow, it was weird how Mae didn't already scream it out, she would be if she got it; a part of Bea was anxious that Mae just chickened out and didn't go at all because the nerves were too much… that wouldn't surprise her, actually… that's probably what happened.

The two just stared at each other, seconds of silence passed, Mae suddenly looked up and yelled: "I SO EFFING NAILED IT AND GOT THE JOB!" she held her arms up in the air.

"Congrats!" Bea called over at Mae, though she doubted she could hear her over her own shouting and breathing. Bea was genuinely surprised, though she wasn't unhappy, it was a good step in the right direction for Mae, responsibility would do a lot to help curve her in the right direction.

"I so blew the pants off the lady interviewing me, or… skirt? I don't remember! Doesn't matter! I impressed her so much she hired me on the spot!" she wasn't really lying… entirely…

"Wait, really Mae? I don't want to put you down, but… really?" Bea had trouble believing this, not because of Mae's delivery, just because of the content alone.

"Mhm! Now when's this job? I got energy! I want to run! Climb! Work! Destroy!"

"No destroying."

"Fine then. Aggressive fixing."

"Well, we're headed to the Food Donkey. They mayor's requested I go down there and check the systems on the roof. He's worried something might be wasting power, or cause a fire." Bea explained what they were going to do while she picked up her tool-box. She was sure to keep it out of Mae's reach.

"OOoooo! The Foooood Donkey! It's been a long time since I've been there! Let's get going!" this day was probably the best Mae's had all month; she's been stressed non-stop in search of a job, every hour she wasted doing actually nothing made her feel more self-loathing and guilty, not to mention the general loneliness. People have been staying inside and spending time with their family, which strictly limited how many people Mae saw in a day.

"Alright hold on, let me go tell Bill he'll be running while I'm gone." Bea said, and walked into the back of the shop.

A ride in the car with Bea wasn't all that bad, not that Mae was expecting it to be; the heating in Bea's car sucked, but that's what coats and the warmth of a cigarette head existed for! Mae told Bea pretty much every detail about her big day, showed her the two shirts she brought with her, and the interview itself as they drove, and by the time she finished, she realized that they were going… completely the wrong way!

"Wait, Bea… are you taking me to the woods so you could leave me there to die?" Mae asked and pushed her face against the window, she wasn't expecting Bea to lie about where they were going.

"Yes, you've figured me out." Bea said with dry humor, "And I'm going so fast that you can't escape until we're sufficient distance from the town. Dying distance."

"Diestance."

"I'm taking you out to Donut Wolf to celebrate, dumbass." Bea glanced over at Mae, and found herself unable to keep her lips from curling back into a smile.

The little celebratory feast lasted about an hour, they savored the donuts, and chose to take their time to appreciate the craft of deliciousness. By the time they finished, and got back to Possum Springs, it was starting to get dark out.

"Okay, now for real, I actually have to go and inspect the Food Donkey." Bea broke the news to Mae once she drove past the Ol' Pickaxe. She thought this would dampen Mae's mood, and maybe even wind up with her asking to drop Mae off, but to her surprise, Mae just slowly, quietly raised her hands up till her knuckles touched the roof of the car, and whispered: "Foooooood Donkeyyyyy."

Bea slowed down when her car reached the end of town where the Food Donkey was; the parking lots around it were baren, save for one car… one specific car that made Mae's fur stand up on ends…

A cop car.

"Oh what the hell…" Bea grumbled and rubbed her forehead with one hand. She let out a long, smoke laced sigh while she pulled up near the cop car, but far enough away to not be in the way of something… Bea had no idea what to do in a situation like this.

"They're probably just here to scare off vandals or something. There better not be a murder, the Pickaxe needs this, if we come through with this, the town might start depending on us more, instead of contractors or construction." Bea tried to explain to Mae the gist of why this sucked.

"And we're here to scare off the cops." Mae said while she punched her own open palm.

"Mae. No. If you get arrested, I'm not bailing you out." Bea warned sternly, and opened the door. She shivered, still cold even under her P-coat and scarf. Mae followed after Bea shortly.

Slowly, Bea walked over towards the entrance of the Donkey. She had pepper-spray in her pocket, per usual, so she felt a little safe, but still, this was a sketchy scene to her. She didn't see a police officer or anyone.

"Hello?!" Bea called out. There was silence.

Mae walked up next to Bea and shouted, "HELLO?!"

Inside, there was movement! Someone muttered a curse word, and after a couple of seconds, the two saw a shadow approaching. Two shadows!

"Who's out there?" a familiar voice called from inside the dark Food Donkey.

"Ah shit…" Mae mumbled under her breath.

From inside the Food Donkey emerged Molly, who looked… weird, roughed up? Her shirt was untucked, and she had one hand on her belt like she was holding it in place. Her other hand was wrapped around the hand-cuffed wrist of… Scriggins?!

The shifty alligator didn't say a word, he was looking away, absolutely no eye-contact whatsoever, which was strange for him, normally he was smug and confident… even with his hands cuffed behind his back, he'd be a smarmy ass-blower. He didn't look like he was beaten into submission either, though maybe he was all talk; the only way Mae would let herself get her wrists cuffed is if they cut her arms off and then cuffed them, independent of her, but then her cut-off hands would still flip off the cops.

"Out and about using extensive force again, Mall employee of the month?" Mae asked with a furrowed brow and crossed arms, she didn't like taking Scriggins side in anything, even if it's subtle and for a jab.

Molly rolled her eyes, "What are you two doing out here this late at night?"

Bea sighed, "We have an order from the mayor to inspect the electrics on the roof. Want me to go get the papers…?"

Mae looked down, and she noticed Scriggins belt was undone, it was hanging there awkwardly. Molly saw this, and straightened her back.

"No, that's fine. You're a good egg, Bea. Try and rub off on my niece, if you could." Molly said quickly, and started to force Scriggins over to the cop car.

Scriggins was limping a bit, but it was a weird limp.

"Ow, don't fuckin push me so hard…" Scriggins mumbled angrily at Molly, before she opened the door and forced him into the back seat. Molly got in the drivers seat and drove off quickly.

Mae and Bea were both left speechless. They slowly looked up at one another.

"You don't think…" Bea started, but she was quickly cut off by Mae who was shaking her head and arms furiously, "No! No no no no NO! No. Nuh uh. No. No way. He was probably doing gross stuff here because he's a gross person, and Molly came over and arrested him. I absolutel to believe that anything that horrible could happen in reality." she looked up, "The sky isn't splitting open. If their lips even connected for a second, it'd be open and raining hell-fire down on us." Mae ranted and raved, she never believed a single idea or concept could bring her to the precipice of madness, but here she was.

"I don't want to talk about it. Tonight. Or ever. Come on. Let's have an adventure on the roof." Mae said with flattened ears and a pouty look on her face. She quickly walked inside.

"It beats having an adventure in a basement, I guess." Bea shrugged her shoulders and followed after Mae, referring to their very first time out working an out-of-store call like this.

Mae kicked a piece of broken glass and tried to clear up, normally playing with glass did it, and seeing the piece shatter against a counter did boost her mood a little…

Thankfully it wasn't a long trip to the roof, and Bea was the only one that had to carry something up the stairs: her tiny little tool-box, that Mae has offhandedly called cute seven times tonight so far.

On the roof, it was somehow colder, and the air was stronger. Mae's teeth clattered when she stepped out from the stairwell. She shivered and hugged herself, because Bea said she would hit her if she started hugging her for warmth again.

"Okay, so let's start with… ugh… really?" Bea groaned and gestured a hand forward.

Mae knew what Bea was referring to, it was hard to NOT see the large camping tent that was situated right next to a large heater and some giant rooftop pipes.

"You'd think homeless people would want to find warm places to crash…" Mae thought aloud and looked over at the tent.

Bea took a step forward, and worked up the nerve to call out to this total stranger, who could be a weirdo with a rusty knife for all she knew - or a cultist thirsty for revenge.

"Uh, sir? I'm sorry, but this is still someone's property, and you can't stay up here, it's a safety hazard. And illegal." Bea called out to the stranger while she absentmindedly moved a hand to her pocket where the pepper-spray was. Most homeless people that came through weren't looking for trouble, and were understanding.

A long groan came out from the tent, it was a dude, someone old and mature. He was probably sleeping, and they just woke him up.

"Fuck off… less yer the feds, you can take your hazards and stuff em where the sun don't shine." the very rude person from inside the tent responded to Bea once they got their consciousness back.

That irked Mae, a lot. How dare they talk to Bea like that! It wasn't her fault that THEY were breaking the rules!

"Hey! Slime-o!" Mae called out, and she picked up a long discarded empty beer-bottle.

"Huh…?" a surprised, bewildered grunt came out from the tent once Mae spoke out.

"Mae! No-" Bea held out a hand

Mae chucked the thing at the tent, with the intent to hurt, to avenge Bea's sullied honor! It was probably a dick move, but the guy was being a jerk! He's probably done enough bad things in his life to deserve this, if he just talks to complete strangers like that, at least that's what Mae told herself to feel better in the moment.

Bae was absolutely speechless, it was like Mae just threw a fit in a grocery store, something that was completely unacceptable for so many reasons. She looked in horror as the bottle crashed into the tent, and… collapsed it!

The whole tent folded in and collapsed, and Bea took another step forward.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry! She didn't mean to, it's - are you -" Bea was showering the stranger in a flurry of apologies, but she stopped suddenly, and her spine went ice cold.

There was no one in that tent. It collapsed and fell completely flat.

Mae stood there, still. She was ready to kick ass, but instead, she was confused. She heard that voice come from the tent, she saw the shadow of someone shift in there. But the thing fell, and he was gone, like it was some kind of magic trick.

"The eff…?" Mae asked, and walked over to the tent. Bea would have held her arm out to keep Mae away from the tent, but she was so shocked she couldn't muster the strength to move her arm.

Mae walked up to the tent, and slowly poked it with her foot, "Dude…?"

The tent moved, there was without a doubt nobody hiding under the folds of that tent, and there wasn't anything nearby for the guy to hide behind, other than the pipes, but still, she threw that bottle really fast.

"Mae, this is scary." Bea told Mae in a very genuine, borderline childish tone. She didn't like this, after all the things she'd been through, this was unnerving her like nothing before. Mysteries were cool, but this wasn't.

"Okay, this just went from scary to weird scary. We can do this another night, let's go." Bea said before she took her pepper-spray out and looked around. Maybe the hobo was… fast? Really fast? Like a skittering spider evading a glass cup fast? She listened hard for the sound of a running set of footsteps, or breathing, but there wasn't anything at all.

"I heard him in that tent, then I threw the bottle, and he vanished. It was like a Houdini or whatever his name was." Mae sai while she looked for the opening to the tent.

"It was Houdini… Mae, please, don't. Don't open the drifters tent, it's time to leave. I'll get this done in the daytime." Bea begged Mae to stop snooping, but she already knew that was futile, Mae was attracted to things that were dangerous and out of her league by instinct.

Mae was too intrigued in the mystery to listen to Bea. She unzipped the tent and stuck her head inside.

The sky was cloudy, Bea would notice, just as they parted away from the full moon in the sky. Moonlight illuminated the ground around them, and Bea's eyes shot open as wide as they'd go, her cigarette fell out from her maw's grasp.

"Holy shit, Mae-" Bea said weakly, and raised a foot; the ground surrounding them and the tent was covered in splotches of old dried blood, and bloody gauze.

"Not a effing thing. It smells like gross homeless guy, it's even still a bit warm, but…" Mae spotted something just then, and pulled it out of the tent. A… walkie talkie! A heavy duty one too, one that could probably go long-distance, like out-of-town distance.

Mae felt Bea put her hand on her, and tug harshly on it.

"Mae, we have to go. Now. This isn't a game. We're going to sprint to the car, and call the cops. Okay?" she asked, and was about to suggest they start running, but she saw something big in Mae's hand, and looked it at, "The hell? Look, whatever." it didn't matter, car time.

Bea took Mae's hand, looked at her, and they started to run. Mae looked back for the first few seconds, but she had to force herself to look forward to avoid falling down the stairs.

Thankfully nothing creepy happened on the way back to the car. Bea was huffing and puffing by the time they got in. She immediately locked the doors, and started the car.

Mae looked at the walkie in her hand, "Bea…" she said in an unsettled voice; bad things were going through her head.

Bea began to drive.

"Look, don't say it, Mae, this was weird, but it can be explained. Normal things can look weird all the time." Bea was trying herself to rationalize this in her head.

"I think it was a…"

"Mae. Don't."

"A ghost."


End file.
